Obama calls for patience over the economy in live TV question-and-answer session

President Obama sought to reassure a jittery American public yesterday that the troubled US economy is back on track.

In a live TV question-and-answer session at the White House, Mr Obama declared signs of progress as his administration attacks the crisis ‘on all fronts.’

Desperate to draw attention away from the firestorm over multi-million pound bonuses paid out by bailed-out AIG, the president insisted: ‘We will recover from this recession.’

‘There will be no ‘quick fixes and no silver bullets. It will take time, it will take patience and it will take an understanding that when we all work together – when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interests to the wider set of obligations we have to each other – that’s when we succeed.’

Assurance: President Obama responds to a question from the news media during a prime time televised press conference last night

He said the housing market was already showing more signs of recovery in recent days ‘than we have seen in a long time.’

But he warned America it has to end an era of borrow and enter one 'in which we save and invest'.

He tried to rally optimism over his free spending plan to revive the nation’s fractured financial system, saying: ‘It’s a strategy to create jobs, to help responsible homeowners, to restart lending and to grow our economy over the long term.

‘We are beginning to see progress,’ he added. 'The steps that we are taking can actually stabilise the economy and get it moving again.'

He defended his delay in condemning the AIG bonus payouts after being criticised for what was seen as a slow response to the scandal.

He said testily: 'It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak.'

The prime time news conference was the second of his presidency and comes as part of a media blitz by the president, who appeared on comedian Jay Leno’s late night talk show last week and granted his first extended TV interview over the weekend.

His appearance came after Monday’s huge stock rally on Wall Street that greeted the treasury’s move to try and melt the global credit freeze by helping banks offload bad loans.

Although stocks slipped back yesterday, new opinion polls show Mr Obama can still boast a high popularity rating of 63 per cent despite the ongoing financial crisis.

George Bush had a 58 per cent popularity after his first two months in office and Bill Clinton was down to 53 per cent after the same time period.

Mr Obama said there was ‘understandable’ anger over the AIG bonuses, but he said Americans needed to work together to rejuvenate the economy.

Mr Obama also said his budget will build America on a ‘stronger foundation’ by investing in green energy, schools and healthcare reform.